Four Days After Prison
by twentyfourrocks
Summary: Takes place four days after day 3... four days after tony was arrested and shows michelle and her pain. Please read and review! :) 3 of 3 now up COMPLETE!
1. Four Day after Prison

**This is a ficlit type thing ive had for awhile that i thought id post. PLEASE REVIEW!**

**Summary: Michelle's sadness after Tony is arrested... four days to be exact. (therefore 4 days after day 3)**

**Disclaimer: None of the charecters are mine**

**Title: Four days after Prison**

Michelle sat on the couch, rewinding and watching, and then rewinding again. Her eyes were bloodshot; she had barely moved in the past four days. There was no point anymore, was there? She heard a knock at the door and got up, dragging her feet to answer it. Jack, Chase, and Kim stood there, looking at the appearance of Michelle, seemingly unraveling before their eyes. She was usually so put together; but her eyes were puffy and bloodshot with bags underneath them, she was wearing Tony's boxers and one of his button up shirts, and she looked like she hadn't slept in all the time she had been separated from him. As she motioned them inside, other things stood out too. There was a blanket sprawled on the couch. A closer look revealed a man's jacket and a picture frame, wrapped up in the blanket. On the table, presumably left out from the night before, was a glass and a bottle of vodka, not to mention a box of half eaten chocolates. She had taken a bite out of some of them, then put them back in the box; no flavor tasted good to her. She walked back to her spot on the couch, curling up with the blanket over her waist.

"Watchya watching?" Jack asked.

"Tape from our honeymoon," she replied in a dead tone.

Jack noticed the despair in her voice; it defined every part of her being at the moment.

"Michelle," he said gently, "you can't keep doing this. Look at you; you haven't slept or eaten properly in four days; you need to get some rest."

She slowly turned her head up to Jack, who along with Chase and Kim had taken seats around the table in her and Tony's living room.

"Jack everybody has a breaking point. I got through the CTU bombing. I survived exposure to the virus. I got through being taken as a hostage. Those are things I can deal with."

She paused.

"But when the man I am in love with is taken from me, that I can't get through. _That's_ my breaking point."

Her voice cracked. Jack noticed that there was more than I dozen tissues sprawled in front of the couch, along with a tissue box on its side. She hugged the picture frame, where they all assumed a picture of Tony was. Jack looked down.

"Is there anything we can do? Anything we can get you?" Kim asked quietly.

"Unless you can get me Tony-"

Her voice cracked as the choked version of his name escaped her lips. It was the first time she had said his name since he had been taken away; she had only sobbed it to a television screen before. She wiped a tear hastily away from her eyes with her arm before reaching over to the table and grabbing the glass of vodka, tipping it back into her mouth in a swift movement and placing it back on the table with a clink. The three looked around worriedly at each other. Michelle discreetly hugged Tony's jacket, inhaling his scent that still lingered there. The phone rang.

"Aren't you gunna answer that?" asked Chase softly as it rang for the third time.

"No," Michelle said simply.

"Michelle, you shouldn't shut everybody out. They care about you," said Jack just as softly and worriedly as Chase

"Jack there is only one person who could make the slightest bit of difference in how I'm feeling right now and there's no way he's calling."

She said this without moving her eyes from the inside of Tony's jacket, where she had barricaded her face, taking in the scent that seemed to give her heart a little pinch of comfort.

"Do you mind if we stay here," Kim asked softly.

"Do what you want," said Michelle in an impartial voice.

She wasn't being mean, just impartial.

They stayed quiet for a little bit, until Michelle clicked the play button on the remote control. A picture came on. Michelle was in a hotel room; it was day time. She was wearing a flowing light green skirt and a yellow top, as well as a huge grin on her face.

"Tony, stop it," she laughed at the camera.

"Whatchya gonna do about it," came Tony's voice behind the camera.

There was a rustling noise as Tony maneuvered the camera around so that he was holding it with both of them in the frame, his arm around Michelle where he had pushed her into a sitting position on the bed. Still wobbling, Tony looked at the camera with the biggest grin on his face.

"So we're on our honeymoon! What does that mean? Lots and lots of sex!" he laughed.

"Tony," Michelle yelled at him, laughing hysterically and trying to hit him but being kissed instead.

"Okay. Never mind," she laughed into his mouth.

The camera got closer on Tony's shirt as he brought it towards him to turn it off.

Tears were streaming **down** Michelle's face. The other three had been smiling, watching the tape. They had never seen it before and under other circumstances, would've enjoyed tormenting their friends at the amusing scene. Michelle went to rewind, as the tape had gone black, but stopped as something came on she wasn't aware was there. She was wrapped in white sheets, in the same hotel, but the side next to her was empty. As she heard Tony's voice start to speak, her tears choked a little bit, and she stopped crying, sitting up, putting her feet on the ground, and leaning towards the TV, listening to what he was saying.

"See, isn't she beautiful when she sleeps. Look at her hair, her face. No makeup; nothing. I wish she knew how beautiful she was when its just her. She doesn't know this, but I actually have a picture of her sleeping, that I put on her pillow when she's not there, because I can't fall asleep without her next to me. Don't tell her though," he said with a small chuckle.

Michelle stopped the VCR and stared at the black screen in a shocked way. She fought the tears fighting to the death to spill over. Kim, Jack, and Chase all looked at her; they could tell that she had never seen that before, and they could see that it was killing her.

"Excuse me for a second," she said.

They watched her stand up and walk down the hall towards her and Tony's bedroom. They waited for about twenty minutes before Jack ventured down the hall to make sure she was okay, followed closely by Kim, and last Chase. Her bedroom door was open. Flopped down on the top of the white comforter was Michelle, lying on her stomach, fast asleep, a picture of Tony sleeping resting on the pillow next to her.

**Hope you liked this. Please REVIEW because, although this is intended as a one time fic, it'll encourage me to post other ones I might have or could write :) Enjoy.**


	2. Trial of whispers

**This was originally intended to be a one time fic, but, bowing to requests, i decided to post this. I had this as a seperate fic but its kind of short anyway for a complete fic and i think it works here. please tell me what you think. i think this is gonna be a three part piece instead of just a one time now. thanks for the reviews guys and please, please REVIEW. its the reason why im posting so the more reviews the more ill post.**

**and also check out "because im still in love with you" which is furthur down...id love more feedback there too! thanks, you guys rock! :)**

Tony was so nervous. This was it. It was those twelve strangers in there that determined his fate. The jury filed in. Michelle was outside, too. Her testimony would be heard close to the beginning so that she could be there for the rest of the trial. She stood outside the courtroom, pacing back and forth.

"Michelle, you need to relax," Jack said in a soothing voice.

"I'm fine," she replied, not even stopping her pacing to look at him.

"Michelle, look at you. You haven't slept in two weeks. Come on. It won't be any faster if you keep pacing," Jack said, Michelle turning to look at him, stopping, then walking over and sitting on the bench.

Jack noticed that she fidgeted a lot; she seemed very nervous, and he felt a stab of guilt at the fact that he couldn't do more to help their situation. Michelle rocked slightly foreword and back, sitting on her hands, biting her lip nervously. Many of the people who worked with CTU had wanted to support Tony. Kim, Chase, Adam, and Jack, were there, while others had had to work.

"Michelle Dessler Almeida," came the voice of the guard, who had just stuck his head out the door.

Michelle stood up, shaking slightly, although only somebody who knew her well would have seen it. She composed herself, holding her head high and walking into the courtroom. As she reached the door, Jack said, "Good luck," and gave her a reassuring smile and nod.

"Thanks," she said, forcing her face into a smile, feeling her skin stretch over her cheek bone from the motion that she hadn't managed to make in days.

Michelle walked into the courthouse, her heels seeming to echo loudly. As she neared the front, she looked at the defendant's table and immediately felt the longing consume her. Their eyes met as she walked to the witness stand, and Tony's eyes remained on her back as she continued her short journey to the stand. The bailiff had her raise her right hand.

"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"

"I do." Oh so familiar words, yet in such a different situation, now digging at her heart as memories of those two words flashed through her mind, but for each scenario the sound of them couldn't have been more different from this.

She sat down, her eyes now flickering back to Tony's face. She saw the words 'I love you' mouthed off his perfect lips and mouthed it back at him, unable to remove her eyes from his. Tony's attorney, Carl Smith, walked up to the witness stand.

"Could you please state your name for the record?" he asked.

"Michelle Dessler Almeida," she said.

"Dessler?"

"Yes, I use my maiden name in the office," she replied.

"Any specific reason?" he asked her.

"Well, when we answer the phones we answer with our last name. And as I work in CTU with Tony, it would be confusing if we both used Almeida," she explained.

"How long have you worked in the same place as Mr. Almeida?" he asked.

"Objection. Relevance?" said the prosecutor.

"I have a point," said Carl.

The judge considered.

"Overruled. You may answer the question," she said.

"About four years," Michelle said.

"How long did you date before you got married."

"Almost two years."

"Did anybody know?"

"Not for the first six months or so," she said, the flicker of lips curving up glowing briefly on her face as she looked at Tony, the pain still evident in her eyes.

"Has working with him in any way made you or Mr. Almeida less productive?"

"Not in the least. We still work very well together."

"Could you please relate some of the personal strains of the day of the Cordilla Virus, Mrs. Almeida?" he asked.

"Well, we worked very hard. Tony got called off for some field work. I naturally, didn't want him to go," Michelle said.

"But he did go?"

"Yes. It's part of the job."

"Then what happened?"

"Tony was shot in the neck."

Michelle paused, looking down, and the attorney waited while she took a few seconds.

"I don't ever think I've been so scared," she said in a quieter, huskier voice. "With Tony gone, though, I, as his second in command, was in charge," she said, returning to her strong, assertive voice, "So I had to stay and run CTU. Eventually, I did get to go and see him."

"And then?"

"When I got there he wanted to know what was going on with CTU, so I told him. Then, he began to get out of bed, telling me he needed to go to CTU, against the advice of the doctor."

"And did you take him?"

"I refused at first. But he told me he needed me to trust him. So I did. He hobbled into CTU to reveal the plan that he, Jack Bauer, and Gael Ortega had put into place, which eventually was a key factor in stopping the outbreak of the virus, just a few minutes after surgery."

"What was the next major thing that happened for you two?"

"I was assigned to go to the Chandler Plaza Hotel, where the virus was suspected to be. Things had not been right between me and Tony since he got back from the hospital. But still, he didn't want me to go. I had the most background for the assignment's needs; we recognized that, so I went. When we got there, we were instructed to not enter the hotel until hazmat, well, toxin proof suits, arrived. I told my team that they could choose to stay out if they wished, but while there was still a chance we could stop the virus being released, I was going in. My team followed me in. Unfortunately, we were a few seconds too late, and the virus was released. People began to die all around me. My friends died. Gael Ortega, one of the men who had originally worked on the plan to stop the virus, was the first to die."

She paused.

"Tony and I tried to avoid the subject, but we both knew the chances of me making it out alive were slim to none. We had one or two short conversations regarding the matter, but Tony, nor I as I needed to keep working, wanted to contemplate my death. Later I found out that I was one of the few immune to the virus. We were both extremely relieved. Then, as I was leaving the hotel, I was kidnapped. They placed a video camera in front of me and put a knife to my eye at one point. I managed to escape and get a gun and a phone. I immediately called Tony who was already with Jack Bauer. Jack told me to get myself caught again, as it would be better in order to catch Saunders, the man responsible for the virus outbreak. I heard Tony object and get thrown to the ground. I allowed myself to get caught, and a trade took place. Jane Saunders, the daughter of Stephen Saunders, for me. So as she went to her father's men, I went to Tony. Jane got cold feet, however, and ran back, at which point Tony threw me behind him and pulled out his gun with the rest of CTU and the men that were there as his back up. Once the shooting was over, Saunders was caught, Jane was still in our custody, and Tony was with me."

There was a moment of silence as Michelle finished her story.

"At any time afterwards, when Tony was back at CTU, after this ordeal for the two of you, were you allowed to see him?"

"Not at first. But we needed Tony to run the tactical unit, so I was able to brief him on that, although it was on a very professional level as there was a time crunch and really, not a second to spare on each other. When it was all over, Tony and I were allowed a few minutes, but then he was taken away."

"Do you believe that Mr. Almeida is a traitor?"

"No," Michelle answered immediately, "What Tony did was wrong, yes. But prison is a place for people who are at risk of hurting others or who have hurt others. Nobody got hurt because of what Tony did, and there is no way that this situation would present itself again if he was no longer a government agent. Terminate his employment so it will never happen again, I get that; but don't put him in prison."

Michelle looked at the defendant table, pausing.

"Tony is facing a treason charge because he loves me."

A tear trickled down Michelle's face.

"He is the least traitorous person I know. And I have never loved anybody more than I love him. Please," she turned her head from Tony to the jury, a set, strong expression on her face, "Don't punish him for protecting me. Don't make him pay for a mistake that ultimately didn't result in death. Tony Almeida is not a traitor; he did what anybody in that unbearably awful situation would do. And I know, if I was in that position, I would have done the same thing."

Her eyes returned to Tony's face. She mouthed 'I love you' at him, and for the second time, saw him smile slightly as he mouthed it back.

"Thank you," Carl said, sitting down.

"Your Honor, I have no questions for this witness," said the prosecutor.

"Very well. You may step down. Next witness," said the Judge.

Michelle got up from the stand and walked down to the front row, waiting for the rest of the trial.

"I'd like to call Tony Almeida to the stand," said Carl.

The bailiff escorted Tony to the stand where he repeated the process of putting the witness under oath. Tony sat down. Carl approached him.

"Tony, could you please relate to the court what happened in between the time that Michelle was kidnapped and the time you made the trade with Saunders?"

"I got a call from Saunders shortly after Michelle had been kidnapped, without my knowledge. He told me to go and bring up a file on the computer. I denied, but he made a remark about seeing my wife. So I went to the computer and saw her bound, gagged, and restrained in the back of a van," Tony said.

"How did you react to this?" Carl asked.

"I was so scared. I threatened Saunders, but he just gave me instructions on what to do to get her out alive."

"Which were?"

"I had to help him get around the teams stationed around the building where he was being held hostage. I refused, of course, but he told the man with Michelle to take out one of her eyes. The man went to do it with a knife; well needless to say I couldn't let that happen. So I did what he demanded. I got a call later, telling me that I had better delete the satellite footage. He also told me to get his daughter, who at that point was in our custody, and go to a specific location."

Tony sighed.

"I stunned the guard and broke Jane out of CTU. Yes, it was a terrible thing to do, and I hated doing it, but while there was a knife at my wife's eye. Let's just say Saunders found my weak spot."

"What happened next?"

"Well, Jack caught up with me and forced me to pull over. Saunders and I arranged a meeting point and CTU was brought into the play. A little later we got the phone call from Michelle. I was so relieved that she was alright. When I objected to Jack's plan to have her get herself caught, Jack had me restrained so that I couldn't interfere in the plan. By me exchanging Saunders' daughter for Michelle, we ended up with Saunders, his daughter, and I still had her. It worked out."

"Tony, why did you later, already in custody and facing treason charges, agree to help run the tactical unit for the recovery of the last vial of the virus?" asked Carl.

"Because," said Tony, "I wasn't helping Saunders in the first place because I in any way wanted him to succeed in his plan. Even before I took Jane Saunders, I had Chloe try and track my call with Saunders, the one where he told me to take his daughter, to find where he was. I didn't want more innocent people to die. It was still my duty to try and protect these citizens."

"Thank you Tony," said Carl, sitting down.

The prosecutor stood and came forward.

"Mr. Almeida-"

"Tony."

"Tony, at any time during which your wife was in the hotel, did you tell her that you loved her?"

"No. We talked, and it was implied, but I think there was an unspoken understanding that both of us would have fallen apart if we spoke it out loud. When she called me and told me she didn't have the virus, relief seemed to seep through my body. I told her I loved her. After the call ended, I found that I had been right. I took a moment to compose myself and kept working, although, if truth be told, I would have much rather gone to NHS to be with her," Tony said.

"If you love your wife so much, why didn't you tell her sooner?"

"Objection!" said Carl.

"Withdrawn," said the prosecutor, throwing up his arms before the judge could sustain the objection.

Tony looked down for a moment, and then directly at the prosecutor.

"You can question my loyalty to my job, whether I'm a traitor, whether I deserve to sit in a cell for the rest of my life, fine. But don't ever question how much I love my wife. She is my life. Sometimes we both work eighteen hour days, and it seems like the job controls our lives. But when it comes down to it, she's the one who gets me through the tantalizingly boring paper work, she's the one who calms me down after I get truly pissed off at orders I disagree with but have to do anyways, she's the one who calls me up and tells me to get working when I end up staring inadvertently down at her workstation. So even at work, she's my life. She will always be my life, even if you take me away from her."

Tony glanced up from where he had been staring at Michelle across the courtroom and instead looked at the jury as he said this last sentence.

**Enjoy and i hope you liked this! REVIEW (btw)! :)**


	3. Always Love You

**This is the last part of this fic. i hope you enjoyed it. please REVIEW**

Tony stared at the ceiling. Grey concrete and cold. That was the sum of it: cold. Steel bars clanked outside his cell, and he didn't even bother to look around. He laid on the static blanket, head on the plastic covered pillow slowly easing out of the case, staring up at the cracked ceiling. The banging on the bars of his cell made his head turn.

"Almeida, stand up, face the wall," said a voice.

Two guards. He stood and faced the wall, dreading this encounter, waiting to see what was going to happen. He had "mouthed off" to one of the guards earlier, if mouthing off was asking perfectly legitimate questions and citing an ass where there was one. He felt a sharp pain in the back of his neck where one of the guards had smacked him with his nightstick. Tony let out a scream of pain and crumbled down the wall.

"You need to learn respect, prisoner," said the other guard, kicking him.

Tony bit his lip, trying to stop from screaming out, but ended up coughing up blood onto the floor instead. A particularly nasty strike in the back from the nightstick caused Tony to scream out for her.

"Michelle."  
It was almost a reflex, like a wounded teenager crying out for his mother, to save him, he cried for Michelle. The love of his life.

The guards merely laughed at this, each taking a final swipe at him before stepping back.

"There's a lesson for you," said one of them.

"You know," said Tony, the pain evident in his voice as he turned, leaning on the wall slightly and just managing to prop himself off the floor, to look at them, "About a month ago I was the boss of your boss, and his boss," he said, finding that this at least gave his bloody lip a reason to spread into a slight grin.

"How times change, prisoner," said one of the guards with a cackle, giving Tony another smack in the stomach.

Tony screamed.

"Tony, Tony," said a voice.

He opened his eyes to her beautiful face, feeling her soft warm skin around him, in his arms, feeling his pulse calm at the sight of her hovering over him with a crinkle in her brow.

"Michelle," he said, relief evident in his voice, "You're here."

"Of course I'm here sweetheart," she said.

As he woke up more, his mind quickly flew through the progression of events. Getting off at his trial, going home with her to their house, undressing each other, making love to her, falling asleep with her cradled against his chest, certain that they were still deeply, madly in love, no matter how much other forces tried to tear them apart.

"God I just had the worst nightmare," he said to her, bringing a hand to his face.

She took his hand off his face so she could look at him, and put it in her own, interlocking her fingers with his.

"It's over, baby," she said quietly after a few seconds.

"It's over," he repeated, closing his eyes and repeating it to himself, "It's over."

Realization and relief seeped through his body. He was nowhere near back to normal, that would take time; they both needed to heal. But for now, he could accept that it was indeed over. Pulling her closer to him, he tightened his grip around her, reaching one hand to her face and brushing a curl behind her ear, next resting his hand on her cheek. He sighed and closed his eyes for a second at the feel of her face, her in his arms, warmth. Such a contrast to the cold bitterness of the cell in his dream.

"I will always love you," he breathed as his eyes closed, and he drifted off to sleep, Michelle having already joined him, unconsciously tightening her grip around her lover, her best friend, her husband.

**That's the end of this fic. I hope you enjoyed this. Please review! It really encourages me to keep going with my other fics and its nice to see what people think! Enjoy:)**


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